Every discussion about the Alaskan Way Viaduct inevitably includes references to the "Big Dig" in Boston. It was heard again Tuesday evening during an Alaskan Way Viaduct design workshop at Cooper Elementary School: politicians lied, subcontractors cheated, nobody cared.

With design of the central waterfront tossed back into the air, the state, the county and the city jointly decided to work on the uncontested portions of the project.

All three levels of government are in agreement on much of what needs to be built at the north and south ends of the waterfront. Of particular interest to West Seattle residents will be a new South Holgate Street interchange planned to be built west of First Avenue South near Atlantic Street.

Many of the approximately 50 people in attendance at the workshop, which was sponsored by the Washington State Department of Transportation, King County Metro and the Seattle Department of Transportation, were skeptical about new construction. Many of those in attendance instead favored fix-up projects to strengthen the existing viaduct rather than rebuilding it or building a waterfront tunnel.

One man took hold of the microphone during the public comment period and warned officials that project developers are highly interested in the Central Waterfront project.

"If they tear that down, that's a developer's dream," he said.

People who attended the workshop were encouraged to write down their own ideas on easels set up around the multipurpose room. The easels were labeled for specific topics too.

There were plenty of suggestions under the easel labeled "Fiscal Responsibility." For example, someone wrote, "Leave it as it is. Need $ to balance our budget."

Another person wrote: "Identify supplemental funding resources to limit general taxpayer exposure," while another cautioned, "The retrofit is the only fiscal responsible option."

Some participants brought up environmental expenses as part of fiscal responsibility. One wrote: "Evaluate downside risk under full range of climate-change scenarios."

Someone else commented: "More beyond planning because the catastrophic risks to waterfront are too to great to wait."

Another easel sought public comments about "Efficient movement of people and goods." In response, someone wrote: "Close the viaduct for one week to judge the impact."

Another person wrote, "We need the viaduct. Convenience and capacity are important."

Another stressed the need to keep traffic flowing through the downtown waterfront saying "maintain current capacity throughput of vehicles."

"Don't cater to cars; cater to mass transit," said another.

Another man reminded the audience that King County Metro recently announced plans to start RapidRide in three years. It will use traffic signal "lengtheners," global-positioning satellites and real-time clocks to increase efficiency on some of the city's busiest bus routes. In West Seattle, that means Route 54, which covers White Center, Westwood Village, Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal, Morgan Junction, Alaska Junction, Avalon Way and downtown.

"It would be a shame to tear down the viaduct and lose 10 to 15 minutes in travel time," he said.

Tim St. Clair may be reached at 932.0300 or timstc@robinsonnews.com